Unchained melody
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An assortment of rare ragas in both the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions marked the Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan series of concerts
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The recent Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan 2006 concerts in Bangalore took off to a vibrant start with Samaresh Choudhury's rendition of Malgunji at Gayana Samaja.
"Although Samaresh has adopted an evolved technique from his illustrious father Amaresh Choudhury, his musical sensibilities were further sharpened and updated by his mentor Pandit Ravi Shankar's prolonged tutelage. It was the sitar maestro who identified that singularly special streak of `raag depiction' qualities in him and channelised him to unearth the hidden potential and pave a new path for himself," the Akashvani presenter said.
Samaresh's refreshing spontaneity in providing an assortment in each line of raag Malgunji, and his vibrant consciousness in handling the altering pace reverberated in the hall, as he switched gears to handle vilambit ektaal, drut teen taal for "Murali Ke Dhun Sunn Sakhire" and for the sadra, "Ab Kaise Jaaon."
Samaresh was accompanied on the tabla by Ishwar Lal Mishra, Asif Ali on the sarangi and Jayram Potdar on the harmonium.
What brought him a deafening round of applauswas his control over the toughest of octaves in his said styles even as he chose raag Koushik Dhawani for a khyaal "Sunn balamava", and drut ektaal "Prabhu Ke Charan Sharan" which broke into an alternate rain of swars, taans and lyrical delineations fashioned on his signature approaches.
The traditional, long-established school of Carnatic music is what C. Saroja and C. Lalitha brought to the Akashvani Sangeeta Sammelan. When they joined the Central School of Karnatic Music, Chennai, for higher studies, they came under the direct tutelage of Musiri Subramania Iyer, who was then the principal of the college . With Usha Rajagopalan on the violin, Kumbakonam R.Ganesh on the mridanga and Trichy R. K. Murali on ghata, the serene opening of the raga Naata set the mood for Tyagaraja's "Ninne Bhajana Seya" by Saroja and Lalitha. The vilambakala rendition and the smooth amalgam of the chittaswaras in the kriti gave the piece an unpretentious reserve of the bard's devotion to the Lord, brought about in the straightforward sahitya.
The exciting Kamach came as a stimulant for Mysore Vasudevachar's "Brochevarevarura" wherein the saint has narrated several instances from the Mahabharata and sought blessings from the Lord, who is the key player in `Gajendra Moksha' episode.
Swati Tirunal's two compositions, "Deva Deva Kalayamide" in Mayamalavagowla and "Sarasaksha Paripalaya" in Bantuvarali preceded a measured alapana in Keeravani for Bhadrachala Ramdas' mellow "Rama Rama Srirama" where the Rama bhakta emphatically proclaims that he will spread the spirit of the Lord to the seven worlds.
Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan concerts, first started in 1954, are conducted and aired in several cities across India every year. For the first time AIR will also release CDs of the best of Sangeet Sammelan concerts later in the year.
RANJANI GOVIND
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